By-Ways and Villages of French Louisiana--Day 8 Cannot Believe We've Been Gone a Week!

27 degrees this morning with frost on the car in Vidalia, Louisiana! Out came the sweaters once more! We debated staying one more night here but decided to move on to New Iberia. I saw that Grandmother's Buttons was giving a 20% discount on online purchases--they posted the coupon code on FB--I like their page. So I emailed and said, Hi, remember me--I stop by every year and here I am in La but not going to order online and pay S and H. They emailed me and said, come on in. We are doing the in store sale next week but will give you the discount before hand. So, needed no more incentive, we left the elegant hotel on the River, crossed back into Mississippi and headed directly to St Francisville, La. Bought some lovely things--will post pix tomorrow. Sent a gift to my sister for a belated birthday gift--watch for it Barb--coming through PO. Also picked up a birthday gift for Betsy which they will send out on Mar 1--it is a tradition. Hope I did well again this year--she isn't easy to buy for but she says I've been batting a 1000. I like the things she picks out, all the time, but she doesn't like pink, or flowers, or hearts so there are things I would buy that wouldn't work. After my splurge we once more crossed the Mississippi on a bridge that I hated when they first put it in. It isn't scary or high but it replaced the little ferry that I loved. Locals who travel across the river to and from work have told me the bridge was a Godsend since the ferry only handled about ten cars at a time and then there was the wait for loading and unloading and if you missed it there was the wait for the return since there was exactly one little ferry going back and forth. I've finally gotten over it and now love this bridge because I think it is just beautiful. There are so many angles that produce such neat images. We continued on the old familiar route through New Roads and past the mounds in Livonia to Krotz Springs and headed toward Opelousas but before reaching it we swung out onto the prarie and headed along Bayou Teche to New Iberia. We went through Arnaudville, where we have visited Teche 31 brewery in the past, into Breaux Bridge the home of the swamp tour we take each year on Lake Martin, down through Parks, which if you blink you'll miss it and into St Martinsville, one of my very favorite Cajun towns and the home of the Evangeline Oak. As we went down the main street and, as I was admiring St Martin of Tours Church, Bill noticed an oyster bar. So we made a U-ee and parked in front of the Church and headed in. The barmaid was really sweet--we ate our fill of oysters and I had some Bayou Teche 31 while Bill drank Budweiser! She showed us how to bust open a crawfish and how to eat the head. We boil the crayfish in the stream on our land but they are so much smaller. Maybe I'll try a crawfish boil on this trip. Then it was back on rt 31 down St Peter Street in New Iberia to route 14 and our night's rest in the Quality Inn, where we will remain for two nights. Will eat at Shucks in Abbeville and I need to visit Books on the Teche for my next James Lee Burke--maybe I'll get the first book in his newish series as well as the next in the Robicheaux series. I also like to look over the local La authors to see what they've come up with since last year. So, now, after a productive and fun day, it is time for the evening routine. So until tomorrow--Bon Soir mes Amis et mes Amies. The Valley Vagabonds KandB